William Saliba has been an Arsenal fan since he was a kid.
The defender confessed that his earliest memory of the Gunners was the shirt his mother bought him. It had ‘Henry 14’ on the back, and he has been a Gooner since.
You would imagine that someone like Thierry Henry or one of the legendary French players at Arsenal would be Saliba’s idol.
But it was someone else.
William Saliba says Samuel Eto’o was his footballing idol
Samuel Eto’o was an elite striker in his prime.
The Cameroon international was a superstar for clubs like Barcelona and Inter Milan and won 16 trophies in his domestic career.
Eto’o inspired many young players back in the day, and one of them was William Saliba.
The Arsenal defender, whose mother hailed from Cameroon, has claimed that his idol while he was growing up was Eto’o and Lionel Messi.
Saliba, who was a striker when he was young, even ranked the former Barcelona star above Chelsea legend Didier Drogba.
When asked if Eto’o was underrated, he said on Sky Sports: “Yeah! For me, he is the biggest African player of all time. For me and not only for me. Drogba is a legend, but Eto’o is better.”
Samuel Eto’o was once hours away from joining Arsenal
Arsene Wenger signed several incredible players during his time at Arsenal, but he has a famous list of names he missed out on as well.
One of them was Eto’o, who was very close to signing for the Gunners in 2000.
Everything was set for the striker to put pen to paper, but just hours before he was set to do so, Luis Aragones hijacked the deal.
Eto’o said about what happened many years later, as per the Metro: “I was about to sign that very afternoon at Arsenal, but then Luis Aragones, the Mallorca manager, called me and convinced me.
“I met Luis at a crucial moment in my life where I had to take the right direction – and thanks to him I did. Luis picked me, then I ended up joining Barcelona.”
“That decision changed everything.”
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